Novel epoxy activated hydrogels for solving lactose intolerance

"Lactose intolerance" is a medical problem for almost 70% of the world population. Milk and dairy products contain 5-10% w/v lactose. Hydrolysis of lactose by immobilized lactase is an industrial solution. In this work, we succeeded to increase the lactase loading capacity to more than 3-fold to 36.3 U/g gel using epoxy activated hydrogels compared to 11 U/g gel using aldehyde activated carrageenan. The hydrogel's mode of interaction was proven by FTIR, DSC, and TGA. The high activity of the epoxy group was regarded to its ability to attach to the enzyme's -SH, -NH, and -OH groups, whereas the aldehyde group could only bind to the enzyme's -NH2 group. The optimum conditions for immobilization such as epoxy chain length and enzyme concentration have been studied. Furthermore, the optimum enzyme conditions were also deliberated and showed better stability for the immobilized enzyme and the Michaelis constants, Km and Vmax, were doubled. Results revealed also that both free and immobilized enzymes reached their maximum rate of lactose conversion after 2 h, albeit, the aldehyde activated hydrogel could only reach 63% of the free enzyme. In brief, the epoxy activated hydrogels are more efficient in immobilizing more enzymes than the aldehyde activated hydrogel

Immobilization of halophilic Aspergillus awamori EM66 exochitinase on grafted k-carrageenan-alginate beads

A novel extreme halophilic exochitinase enzyme was produced by honey isolate Aspergillus awamori EM66. The enzyme was immobilized successfully on k-carrageenan-alginate gel carrier (CA) with 93 % immobilization yield. The immobilization process significantly improved the enzyme specific activity 2.6-fold compared to the free form. The significant factors influencing the immobilization process such as enzyme protein concentration and loading time were studied. Distinguishable characteristics of optimum pH and temperature, stability at different temperatures and NaCl tolerance for free and immobilized enzyme were studied. The immobilization process improved optimum temperature from 35 to 45 °C. The immobilized enzyme retained 76.70 % of its activity after 2 h at 75 °C compared to complete loss of activity for the free enzyme. The reusability test proved the durability of the CA gel beads for 28 cycles without losing its activity

Biotechnology of Biopolymers

The book "Biotechnology of Biopolymers" comprises 17 chapters covering occurrence, synthesis, isolation and production, properties and applications, biodegradation and modification, the relevant analysis methods to reveal the structures and properties of biopolymers and a special section on the theoretical, experimental and mathematical models of biopolymers. This book will hopefully be supportive to many scientists, physicians, pharmaceutics, engineers and other experts in a wide variety of different disciplines, in academia and in industry. It may not only support research and development but may be also suitable for teaching. Publishing of this book was achieved by choosing authors of the individual chapters for their recognized expertise and for their excellent contributions to the various fields of research

Biopolymers

Biopolymers are polymers produced by living organisms. Cellulose, starch, chitin, proteins, peptides, DNA and RNA are all examples of biopolymers. This book comprehensively reviews and compiles information on biopolymers in 30 chapters. The book covers occurrence, synthesis, isolation and production, properties and applications, modification, and the relevant analysis methods to reveal the structures and properties of some biopolymers. This book will hopefully be of help to many scientists, physicians, pharmacists, engineers and other experts in a variety of disciplines, both academic and industrial. It may not only support research and development, but be suitable for teaching as well

Bio-applications of chitosan

Efficient commercial carriers suitable for the immobilization of enzymes are economically expensive. Contrarily, the immobilization techniques would enable the reusability of enzymes for tens of times, thus significantly reducing both enzyme and product costs. To prepare a novel carrier for enzyme immobilization it is, accordingly advantageous, that the utilizable starting materials are among those already, permitted for pharmaceutical or food industrial use. Carrageenans and chitosans are two commercially available polysaccharide families, belonging to this category having in addition, diverse features and reasonable costs. Unfortunately, chitosan is not individually manipulated, as it has low physical/mechanical stability, while carrageenan, in addition to its low thermal stability, is lacking the active functionalities required to covalently bind enzymes. In our laboratory, we have succeeded in assembling a combination of the two biopolymers, in such a way to gain the benefits of both, such as the abundance of active functional amino (NH2) groups of chitosans, and being shapeable, while having good thermal stability for carrageenan gel. Carrageenan gels were treated with protonated polyamines "chitosan" to form a polyelectrolyte complex, which was then followed by glutaraldehyde treatment. The newly developed carrier revealed an outstanding gel's thermal stability as it was augmented from 35 to 95°C. The novel gel incorporating the aldehydic chemical functionality has been efficaciously manipulated to covalently immobilize enzymes. FTIR techniques, as well as Schiff's base color development were used to elucidate the structure of the newly grafted carrier biopolymer. FTIR, equally confirmed the incorporation of the aldehydic carbonyl group to the carrageenan coated chitosan at via tracing the band 1720 cm-1. Interestingly, the operational stability retained 97% of the enzyme activity, even after 15 time uses. In brief, the newly developed immobilization methodology is simple and the carriers are economically favored vis à vis the commercially available Eupergit C® or Agaroses®, yet effective and utilizable for the immobilization of other enzymes. © 2012 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved

Biopolymers

Biopolymers are polymers produced by living organisms. Cellulose, starch, chitin, proteins, peptides, DNA and RNA are all examples of biopolymers. This book comprehensively reviews and compiles information on biopolymers in 30 chapters. The book covers occurrence, synthesis, isolation and production, properties and applications, modification, and the relevant analysis methods to reveal the structures and properties of some biopolymers. This book will hopefully be of help to many scientists, physicians, pharmacists, engineers and other experts in a variety of disciplines, both academic and industrial. It may not only support research and development, but be suitable for teaching as well